“I love the way the Greeks have squeezed so much out of everything they have: oil from olive, wine from the grape, ouzo from ouzo is made from-I don’t know and I don’t care; I’ll drink it-feta cheese from sheep’s milk and salt, mosaic from pebbles, temples from stone.”
Mary Norris “Greek to me”
Exploring the Hill of Muses, ancient ruins
Let’s start a new story about Athens, its fair tale place in the ancient city. Philopappou Hill or Hill of the Muses is the forested hilltop with full view of the Parthenon.
Here artists and poets are drawing the inspiration and creativity while watching the Acropolis. Its marble seems soft pink in the setting sun. I called it the romantic and nature Atelier in the ancient city.
Would you like a cup of coffee while reading my story?:) As Greek saying about coffee: it is a way of Life.
The Hill is close to the famous Monastiraki neighbourhood and Acropolis, has convenient location in the city and easy to walk for enjoyable atmosphere.
Like Greeks, I was ready to absorb everything the Hill of Muses is providing: the view of the Acropolis, the sunset behind the ancient city, the smell of olive trees that are growing all over the hill, the red poppies and the stones of ancient monuments and many narrow paths leading up to top’s hill of Muses where is located the monument of Prince Philopappo.
The Hill has even Prison of Socrates and ancient ruins on of the classical 5th century BC Themistoclean Wall.
Why the Hill’s second name Hill of Muses or Nymphs?
Apparently, the hill is also known as Hill of the Muses because it is believed to have been a place where the ancient Greeks worshipped the nine Muses, the goddesses of the arts and sciences. Voila!
Before a trip to Greece, I have read Theoi Project, the website exploring Greek mythology and the gods in classical literature and art. I definitely recommend this website to anyone who is interested in legends, its link is included in the post.
The Hill in spring is full of poppies, beautiful, bright and tender. Hmm… interesting thought. How can the hill of Muses whose mother was Mnemosyne, the titan goddess of Memory and Remembrance, be strewn with poppies, flowers of oblivion? :)
The nine muses from Greek mythology are patrons of the creativity. They are inspiring all sorts of discoveries and creations, from science to drama. Inspiration is something mystical, intangible, encompassing an actor, a writer, an inventor, and a scientist.
The muses give us the chosen ones new impulses and aspirations, the pangs of creativity and love, recognition and celebrity, sometimes purely and disinterestedly, and sometimes at the cost of sacrifice and complete giving up of important things. I immersed in the captivating world of metamorphosis as Zeus and Mnemosyne with their daughters from Athens’ sky and clouds.
The Muses were the goddesses of music, song and dance, and the source of inspiration to poets. They were also goddesses of knowledge, who remembered all things that had come to pass. Later the Muses were assigned specific artistic spheres: Kalliope (Calliope), epic poetry; Kleio (Clio), history; Ourania (Urania), astronomy; Thaleia (Thalia), comedy; Melpomene, tragedy; Polymnia (Polyhymnia), religious hymns; Erato, erotic poetry; Euterpe, lyric poetry; and Terpsikhore (Terpsichore), choral song and dance.
I have only one question Why there is no Muse for the artists?:)
I created this series of Muses in Athens, thanks to the city’s inspiration and particularly Hill of Muses:)
Mnemosyne and Zeus’ nine daughters, I sketched it from Mosaic depicting the nine muses from Augusta Treverorum, colossal mosaic, a breathtaking epitome of artistic excellence, epitomizes the enchanting power of the nine muses.
There is the grace and allure of each muse.
Greek Culinary Delights
My family was visiting the Hill of Muses several times during our trip. We were feeling relaxed after busy days, it gave us inspiration and delight to our eyes, smell, even tactility:) I touched olives, poppies, the first spring green leaves of olive trees, listened to the sounds of birds and enjoyed white wine and the desserts in the restaurant Dionysos Zonar’s, its link will be provided is this post.
Do you know if you can eat olives directly from the trees? I even picked one olive from the tree, it was very hard with bitter taste:) Apparently, to obtain a delicious snack, olives and olives are soaked for a long time and then salted or pickled. It should be done in September not in spring time but it was a funny experiment:)
Talking about traditional Greek culinary, I love poppy seeds for their distinctive flavor and simply irresistible crunch.
From my childhood I remember enjoying the baked goods with poppy seeds in the mix my mom used to cook. My favourite one was the old world poppy seed rolls…
My advice to anyone visiting or living in Athens, just let you to be reach the beauty and artistry of the Hill of Muses, imagine yourself in the company with these mystical creations. Maybe the muses will guide your own creativity and unlimited inspiration.
What are your experiences or thoughts about the Hill of Muses?:)
Bon voyage! Until the next travel:) Stay healthy.
All paintings belong to the author. No image is to be copied without permission.
Links
https://artsandculture.google.com/story/mosaic-of-the-muses/nwUhQmZJFCViIg
Theoi Project, a site exploring Greek mythology and the gods in classical literature and art link is below:
https://www.theoi.com/Ouranios/Mousai.html
Dionysos Zonar’s restaurant link:
Tools used for my painting. Watercolour brands Van Gogh and Cotman. Paper Canson Mix Media album 28×35 cm (11×14 in.) and Canson Watercolour album 25×35 cm (11 x15 in.)
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